


Behind the Scenes

by krashler



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Keith has Social Anxiety, M/M, Mutual Pining, actor!keith, all of them are theatre nerds, and a bunch of other things, sassy pidge, techie!lance, this is the best and worst idea i've ever had
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 21:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9027409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krashler/pseuds/krashler
Summary: Lance is a bored high school student who is persuaded to join tech crew for the school production of Cinderella. There he meets Keith who is playing none other than Prince Charming.





	

September 6th: Tuesday

“Hunk, I’m bored all the time.” Lance fretted, drawing out Hunk’s name and flipping around in his chair so that his head was hanging upside down.

“That’s not my fault, Lance. There are a million clubs to join at school. Just pick one.” Hunk said, not bothering to look up at him.

He had been curled up in his bed, working on his AP Lit paper when Lance had busted into his room, plopped down, and proceeded to whine.

“I don’t want to join a club, though! Clubs are for nerds,” Lance said with a pout. “Besides, there’s nothing our school offers that I would actually want to do.”

“Art club,” Hunk offered.

“Boo.”

“Film club.”

“No.”

“National Honor Society.”

“Boring, you’re boring me!”

“You could try out for a sport.”

“Not in your lifetime.”

Hunk rolled his eyes, glancing at Lance from over his laptop screen. “Well I’m sorry that your interests are so obscure that literally nothing appeals to you,” he said, sarcasm thick in his voice.

“Hunk, you are not helping me in the slightest.” Lance muttered, gritting his teeth. He let out a low, pitiful sound that dragged on for a few seconds.

“Lance, stop. If you’re so bored all the time why don’t you join tech for the play?”

Lance cut off his complaint, flipping back around and looking at Hunk as if he had two heads.  He let the silence stretch out for a moment. “Why on Earth would I want to do that?”

Hunk rolled his eyes again, clearly irritated by Lance’s words. “Well, if you’re bored all the time, have nothing to do, and are constantly complaining to me, you might as well make yourself useful. I know I’m makeup head and everything, but it gets pretty boring if you have no one to talk to that doesn’t have a stick up their ass.”

Lance was staring at him, but now he had a thoughtful look in his eyes. He looked like he was seriously considering it. “That’s… not a bad idea,” he pondered, gaze shifting to focus on a spot on the floor.

Hunk’s face lifted slightly. “See? I can be helpful when I want to be.”

Starting senior year had been rough on both of them. Hunk had decided to take four AP classes, which Lance had relentlessly made fun of him for, as well as being assigned makeup head for the upcoming play. Lance on the other hand had given up his summer in order to finish his credits, on top of working his ass off in all advanced classes junior year. As he had put it, “his past self worked hard so his present self didn’t have to.” Only now, he was bored out of his mind and finished what little homework he did have in class.

“You can talk to Allura about joining next week,” Hunk said idly, turning his head to Lance, who still looked deep in thought, eyes unfocused but brows furrowed.

“Who?” Lance replied, gaze unwavering.

“Allura. She’s the drama teacher. Her name’s Mrs. Takashi but all the students call her by her first name. She’s really nice.”

Lance perked up in his chair, a look of determination in his eyes. “Hunk, you big gassy genius. I’m gonna join tech.” He had turned to Hunk, who was already immersed in his laptop once more. “I’m gonna join tech!”

-

September 22nd: Thursday

Lance supposed that was easier said than done. Whenever he tried to go talk to the drama teacher, she had either not been there or she was busy with a class. It wasn’t until the drama department hosted a game night after school a couple weeks later that he finally had the opportunity.

He walked in the front doors of the school, his footsteps echoing eerily in the empty foyer. He took a left turn down the fine arts hallway where various pictures of flowers and designs had been painted, and made his way to the theatre classroom- the “black box” as the students called it. As he approached, he heard soft music playing, and Hunk’s loud laughter along with a few others’ drifting into the hallway. _Bless him._

Lance and Hunk had been best friends for years now. They went so far back, Lance couldn’t remember ever _not_ having him around. They were attached at the hip since childhood, together through thick and thin no matter what. Hunk’s moms had even said that they saw Lance as their own child, and vice versa. Whenever Hunk needed assistance with something, whether it was helping him or just cheering him on from the sidelines, Lance was there. Whenever Lance had difficulty in making decisions, Hunk always guided him down the right path.

All the way down at the end of the hall, he turned right and was faced with huge wooden double doors, only one of which was propped open. Sitting right inside was the most beautiful woman Lance had ever seen. She had almost impossibly long silver hair that cascaded over her shoulders, contrasting beautifully against her dark skin. She wore what looked like some kind of foreign tiara across her forehead, and bold pink makeup on her cheeks. She was totally submerged in her laptop, blue eyes narrowed and focused on the screen. She wore a green T-shirt that said MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK on it in big white letters, and black leggings with boots. The only thing off about her, though, was the fat white mouse asleep on her shoulder.

Lance puffed up his chest. “Why, hello there,” he drawled.

She jumped a little at the sudden noise, startling the mouse awake. It squeaked indignantly before sliding down her chest and curling up on the laptop. She lifted her head and gave Lance a blinding smile.

“Hi there!” she said, and Lance could hear a thick accent, probably from England.

“You come here often?” he purred, confident smile in place.

She blinked her eyes a few times, thrown off by the flirting. “Yes, actually.”

Lance pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. “Well then I’m going to make it a point to be hanging around more. Here you go.” He handed her $5 and she put it in a tin box by her feet.

“Thanks for coming,” she smiled uncomfortably at his advancements. Lance clicked his tongue and winked, throwing her finger guns before shimmying around her.

Upon entering, Lance discovered that the room was true to its name- aside from the floor to ceiling mirror on the wall farthest to the left, the walls, floor, and high ceiling were all painted black. Benches were pushed up against multitudes of cabinets and wardrobes that had different posters taped to them based on what was inside. There were posters everywhere, ranging from the different ways to contour a face to what the positions on the stage were to proper audience etiquette. Lance figured there had to be hundreds of them.

Directly to his right was an office that had a window to see inside. There were multiple desks and only one chair, so the drama teacher was either a very busy woman, or the office was extremely crowded. Crappy music was playing in the background, alternating from SpongeBob remixes to Smash Mouth/Evanescence mashups. _Theatre kids are_ weird.

People Lance had only recognized in passing were spread out across the room, chatting with one another like they had known each other for years. Lance figured they had, considering most of them were juniors and seniors.

“Lance! You made it!” Hunk called. He was leaning against the snack table in the far corner where baked goods and chips had been haphazardly stacked.

“Hunk! My pure, wholesome, good best friend, of course I made it!” Lance replied, beelining to where Hunk was perched.

All in all, there weren’t that many games. There was a table in the center of the room with a box of Jenga on it, and two kids were playing Smash Bros on an old TV monitor, but other than that, everyone else was just sitting around talking. Squishy beanbags were strewn across the room, making everything seem a bit homier. Lance grabbed two and hauled them over to the table, throwing one at Hunk and settling in the other.

“Dude, you totally have the hots for Allura.” Hunk laughed as he lowered into his beanbag.

Lance choked on the cookie he had stuffed into his mouth and turned to Hunk with a whine. He swallowed quickly, feeling the non-chewed pieces scrape his throat.

“ _That_ was Allura?” he asked apprehensively.

“Yeah?” Hunk retorted. “And you’ve definitely got a thing for her!”

“No I don’t! I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lance lied, turning up his nose. “I’m offended you would ever think such a thing of me.”

“Don’t even try to deny it, bro! I saw the way you were looking at her. It’s okay though, there’s no shame in it. She’s good looking. But don’t try to make any moves on her. Her husband is hot _and_ ripped. Seriously. He could crush my head with his biceps and I’d thank him.”

Lance shifted his gaze to her thoughtfully, cookie crumbs stuck to his face. “While she is the most beautiful, magnificent, gorgeous person to ever walk the Earth, there’s no way she’d be interested in me. HOWEVER,” he yelled, sticking up his finger to halt Hunk’s interjection. “That will not stop me from trying.”

Hunk laughed, reaching for another handful of Doritos and shrugging his shoulders. “Okay, Lance, whatever you say.”

-

After chowing down on the majority of the cookies, Lance made his way back over to Allura, hoping desperately that he had managed to wipe off all the crumbs and smeared chocolate. Hunk was right behind him, more for moral support than anything else. He had told Lance that he would do some of the talking, but the rest of it was up to him. When they reached her again, Hunk crowed “Alluuuraa?”

She turned back away from her laptop where the sleeping mouse still laid.

“Hey!” she said in that sweet accent. Lance felt like he would melt. “What’s up Hunk?”

Hunk cleared his throat before starting. “Allura, this is my friend, Lance. He wants to join tech crew.”

Her eyebrows lifted as her gaze slid to Lance, and she grinned, seemingly forgetting his earlier strange behavior. “That’s wonderful! I’m always looking for new recruits. What experience do you have?”

Lance felt his face contort in confusion. “I actually don’t have any experience. This is my first time doing something like this.”

Allura’s smile didn’t falter one bit. “That’s perfectly okay! I’m sure you’ll pick up a thing or two over time.” She turned back to the laptop, picked up the mouse and woke it once again, and placed it on her shoulder where it finally sat up. Hunk made kissy noises at it and cooed “Hey Mr. Stuffynose! How are you today?” The mouse didn’t seem interested, opening its tiny jaws and letting out a yawn.

Allura opened a Word document that had a chart with several other people’s contact information and handed Lance the laptop. “Put your email in so I can contact you once production starts up.” Lance obliged, vaguely aware of Hunk next to him, who was still trying to get a response from the bleary-eyed mouse. He handed the laptop back to Allura.

“Thank you so much! I look forward to seeing you in the coming months!” She beamed up at him.

“No problem, Mrs. Takashi.”

She laughed, waving her hand dismissively and shaking her head. “Oh please, call me Allura. That’s what all the other kids call me.”

“Can I also call you tonight?” Lance muttered. Hunk elbowed him in the ribs. Allura smiled again, rotating to begin tapping away at her computer once more, and Lance took that as his cue that the conversation was over.

“Thank you,” he mentioned, spinning on his heel.

“Of course!” she chimed back, eyes not lifting from the screen.

-

Sitting down at the center table with the Jenga box, Hunk began to chatter on about all the wonderful people Lance would meet while he opened the game. “I think you’ll love Pidge. They’re the stage manager; they’re small but they can kick your ass and they have an attitude that could rival yours.”

“Hey!” Lance interjected.

“Also, Coran,” Hunk continued, ignoring Lance’s outburst. “He’s Allura’s friend and he helps with directing the scenes and everything. He mostly just sits in and tells the actors how to fix their mistakes.”  

The conversation drifted from topic to topic as they played their game, winners and losers alternating. A few other people had joined them at the table and their attention was pulled into another area when one of the freshmen piped up.

“Wanna play never have I ever?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Aw man, I’m always the first one out in this game,” Lance grumbled, sticking up his fingers nonetheless.

Hunk smirked at him knowingly. “That’s because you’re always doing stupid shit.”

They went around saying what they hadn’t done, phrases getting more and more strangely specific until Lance was down to only one finger. It was Hunk’s turn. He smiled wickedly at Lance.

“Hunk, if you love me, you won’t say what I think you’re about to say,” Lance pleaded, waving his lone finger in the air. Hunk payed no mind to his begging. “Hunk please, in the name of all that is holy- “

“Never have I ever had sex with my boyfriend in a Forever 21 dressing room and been caught by mall security who were concerned because we were in there for too long.”

“Fuck you,” Lance said as he clapped and put his last finger down.

Side conversations halted. The others all ogled at him, some with their mouths hanging open. After a long moment of awkward staring, one of them burst into a fit of giggles, and the rest followed suit.

“How does that even happen?” she wheezed between breaths, holding her stomach.

“You’re very horny, very desperate, and your boyfriend looks really good in a crop-top,” Lance grumbled. They continued to cackle. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now but when it happens to you, you’ll remember this.”

Hunk was too busy snickering to take Lance’s weak threat seriously.

“Oh, come on, man, we all know that no one else is really going to try something like that.”

“It was the heat of the moment!” Lance exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

“A really steamy moment,” a sophomore said slyly. Lance glared at him.

“You all are just jealous because I was able to get more action in public than you guys are in private.” He said, sticking his tongue out. They stopped laughing, one pursing his lips while another held his mouth in a tight ‘o.’

“He has a point.”

Lance: 1, others: 0

-

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, aside from the intense game of _Heads Up!_ that had Lance screaming “Don’t Stop Believin’” at the top of his lungs. After the first hour, he was completely content in the center of the room just talking. He had learned the names of a few people that were sitting at the table with him, including the junior girl Shay who seemed to particularly attract Hunk’s eyes. They were all kind and welcoming, excited about the new addition to the department.

When Allura announced that game night was finally over at 9:30, Lance was anything but disappointed. As much as he enjoyed hanging out there, which was much more than he cared to admit, he was exhausted.

“I hope you all had a wonderful time,” Allura said sweetly, “but no one is leaving until we all get cleaned up.”

Lance heard a few groans from around him, silently agreeing, but lifting from his seat anyways. He strolled over to the snack table, helping the few kids who had already started working throw away trash.

Once the job was done, and the room was returned to what Lance assumed it normally looked like, it was time to head home.

“Goodbye everyone! Thank you so much for coming!” Allura called.

 

October 7th: Friday

After nearly two weeks, Allura had sent the email out with the schedule for production attached. Lance had been worried that he put down the wrong email, or that she had decided he wasn’t good enough to join after all, but in the end Hunk had calmed him down and told him she was probably too busy with all her other work. At last, Friday evening, Lance received the email.

Sender: takashiallura@paps.org

Subject: Cinderella tech crew

 _Hello all! Sorry I couldn’t get this out earlier, there were a few last-minute stragglers that needed to be added to the list. Lighting renovations in the auditorium have finally been completed, which means our work can officially begin! The schedule is as follows, so please read carefully_ :

Lance’s eyes skimmed over the attached file, feeling excitement bubble up. _Finally._

Official rehearsal was to take place in one week. Allura wanted all of tech crew to be there so that they could “get a feel for what things look like.” One week. Seven more days of pure boredom until he could start doing things with his life.

Lance’s phone lit up with a message from Hunk.

 **Walking Ray of Sunshine:** _did you get the schedule?_

 **Sokka Wanna-be:** _yeah man i’m hype!!_

 **Walking Ray of Sunshine:** _are you really? you don’t seem to be_

 **Sokka Wanna-be:** _dude, i finally have something to do. i’m not gonna be bored anymore. that’s p exciting_

 **Walking Ray of Sunshine:** _yknow you’re going to have to get work done, right? you won’t be able to stare at Allura the whole time. ;-)_

Lance twiddled his thumbs, trying to find the right thing to reply with.

 **Sokka Wanna-be:** _pffff. she’s not the only reason i joined. i also want to be able to spend time with my best friend!!!! is that a crime?:(_

 **Walking Ray of Sunshine:** _i suppose not. i am the most spectacular person you’ve ever met in your life_

 **Sokka Wanna-be:** _damn right bb_

 

October 14th: Friday

Lance made his way to the black box where he found familiar faces. Most of them he recognized from game night, while the others were people who he had known from social media and general passing.

He struck up conversation with Shay, both twittering about their excitement for production to begin. The room was noisy, the air becoming stuffy and warm as more theatre kids ambled between the giant wooden doors. A couple moments passed, and Hunk’s friendly face appeared through the throng of people.

“Hunk, you wonderful, amazing, breathtaking beauty of a man,” Lance greeted him, holding his arms out as Hunk approached. “I’ve been waiting for you for twenty thousand years.”

“Lance, you talented, lovely, intelligent soul,” Hunk replied, pulling him in for a hug. “Quit your whining.”

Just when Lance thought there couldn’t possibly be more people to wait on, Allura’s voice rang clear above the chatter.

“Alright lovelies! Take your seats!” she called, clapping her hands together as she stepped out of her office. The others all obliged, plopping down right where they stood and dropping their conversations to gaze intently her. Lance and Hunk sat on one of the tables pushed against the wall.

“Thank you! Okay, we have a lot of new techies at the moment, which is absolutely _awesome_ , and since there are so many new faces I want to go around the room and say everyone’s names to get acquainted. Sound good?” she asked while not really asking. “The actors can go first, then the techies! Shay, you start. Say your name, your grade, and your role. Techies will say your crew!”

Shay stood up, casting a glance to the people at her feet.

“Hi, I’m Shay.”

“Hi, Shay,” they all echoed.

“I’m a junior, and I’m playing the fairy godmother,” she continued, sitting back down in her spot when she was finished. One by one, the actors stood up and stated their name, grade, and role.

Lance didn’t pay much attention, fading in and out. He had only picked up a few names until one boy stood and caught his eye, making his jaw drop.

Lance didn’t think he had ever seen him before. His black hair was pulled back into a small ponytail at the top of his head, although there were strands of hair slipping out, framing his face. His skin was absolutely porcelain and baby smooth, not a single flaw or mark in sight. His cheekbones and jawline were all angles, sharp enough Lance thought he could cut his finger on them and his nose was slightly upturned at the end in a way that definitely shouldn’t have been as adorable as it was. He had deep blue, almost purple eyes underneath loose tufts of bangs, and full, perfectly threaded eyebrows. He wore a plain black t-shirt underneath a leather jacket, all tied together with skinny jeans and what looked like expensive shoes.

Lance only had one word come to mind.

He was _ethereal._

“I’m Keith. I’m a senior, and I’m playing Prince Charming.”

 _Go fucking figure_ , Lance thought, eyes following the boy- Keith- as he sat back down.

“Hunk,” Lance murmured, leaning to his right as the next person stood up. “I think I just fell in love.”

Hunk glanced at him, slight alarm in his face. “What? With who?” he whispered.

Lance nodded in Keith’s direction, taking in every single detail of his face. He was turned in a different direction, now, staring off into space.

“What, Keith? Seriously?” Hunk whispered in Lance’s ear. “He’s like, a major edgelord.”

“I don’t even care,” Lance breathed, still staring in awestruck wonder at Keith. “He’s stolen my heart.”

“I’m Pidge, I’m a sophomore, and I’m the stage manager. Can’t wait to be yelling at all of you in the upcoming weeks.” said the small person who had been sitting near Lance’s feet. He realized suddenly that this meant he was next, and he stood up from his seat on the table.

“I’m Lance, I’m a senior, and uh… I’m new so I don’t really know what I’m doing yet.” He spilled, looking into a few faces who were gazing back at him. When he made eye contact with Keith, whose attention had snapped back into the room, he felt heat crawling up his face. He sat down again right as Hunk stood up. _I hope my voice didn’t sound too weird._

“I’m Hunk, I’m a senior, I’m makeup head, and don’t worry Lance, you’ll be doing makeup with me.”

“I will?” Lance asked, not really listening.

“Yeah, man,” Hunk replied, sitting back down. “I’m the whole reason you joined tech in the first place.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Lance said, eyebrows furrowing. He glanced at Keith again, but he wasn’t looking at him anymore. His focus had slid back out again. _God damn he’s attractive._

Once everyone had had the opportunity to introduce themselves, Allura announced that they would all be relocating to the choir room.

“Unfortunately, even though renovations are finished in the auditorium, we still have to wait for all the dust to settle before we can safely use it. Until then, we will just have to adapt.”

Everybody left their bags in the black box as they filed to the room down the hall. Pidge pushed the piano in the center to the wall so that the actors would have more space.

“Alright guys! We’re starting at Act 1 Scene 1!” they cried out over the chatter. “We’ll go all the way to the end of the first act and then we’ll do notes.”

The techies sat in a cluster near the door while most of the actors made their way to either side of the room. When they had all cleared, one lone girl with frizzy brown hair stood in the center, looking particularly frustrated.

“CINDERELLA!” she yelled, tapping her foot.

“Yes Stepmother?” called a girl from off to the side. Lance thought he remembered her introducing herself as Nyma.

“Get up off your lazy behind and come fix breakfast! And bring me my makeup while you’re at it!” the other girl was yelling again.

“Yes, Stepmother!”

Lance watched as Nyma ran from the side towards Stepmother. She looked flustered and perhaps a little frantic, tripping over her own feet and talking a little too fast. They continued through their lines as more actors ran from one side of the room to the center to the other side. Lance was watching intently, trying to remember the names of all them and piece together who they were playing. Some of them, like the ugly stepsisters, were easy to place. Others, like the mice who turned into horses, were a bit more difficult.

The ugly stepsisters and Stepmother left center stage, leaving Nyma alone to drop to her knees and bury her face in her hands. “Oh, how I wish I could go to the ball!”

Shay entered from side stage, making a show of tiptoeing and holding her arms gracefully above her head. She then tripped, falling forward, and Lance cringed until he realized it was intentional.

“Shi-!” Shay groaned from her place on the floor. She lifted her head. “What was that you said?”

Nyma lifted her head at the sound of Shay’s fall, eyes opened wide as she scrambled away from her and cried “Who are you?!”

Shay rolled her eyes and sat up, resting her head in her hand. “I’m your fairy godmother, girl, who do I look like? Madonna?” Lance huffed at her sarcastic tone.

“Well, I was just saying how I wanted to go to the ball.” Nyma said timidly, standing up and wringing her hands.

Shay stood up as well and lifted one eyebrow. “That’s all?” she asked. Nyma nodded her head. “I can manage that.”

“Pretend you have a wand,” Pidge whispered loudly.

Shay continued, the only hint that she had heard them being the finger she waved around and jabbed towards Nyma.

Once they had reached the part where Cinderella rode off to the ball in her carriage, Pidge decided that was a good time to take a break.

“Jade!” Pidge said, beckoning her over with their hand. “You’ll go first for notes.”

The girl who had played Stepmother strode towards the piano that Pidge was sitting behind.

“When you’re calling for Cinderella to come bring you her makeup,” they started, “you need to make it sound like you’re frantic and in a hurry, like ‘Bring me my makeup now before I lose my shit’- sorry Allura-“ Pidge cut off, noticing how Allura cringed at their cursing. “But yeah, just make sure it sounds more urgent.”

Over the next ten minutes, Pidge called up each actor who had just performed, telling them what they did well and what they needed to fix. Most of it was technicality issues; they had run through a good chunk of it without having to ask for their lines.

 _They must have been practicing for a while_ , Lance thought, _if they can remember their lines that easily._

“Alright, guys, shut up for a second!” Pidge shouted, waving away the last actor and waiting for the noise to die down before they continued. “You guys have about seven minutes to stuff food in your face and be back in here ready to start Act 2. If you miss a cue, that’s your own fault and I’m not sorry. Dismissed.”

Lance hadn’t realized it, but the first two scenes of the play took up most of an hour. It was already almost dinner time. His stomach growled at the thought, and he was grateful that he had remembered to stuff a muffin in his backpack before he left for school.

Everyone on the cast sprinted towards the door, pushing and shoving to get back to the black box and maximize their time to eat. They nearly trampled those who had taken their seat by the exit. Lance yanked his hands up from the floor to keep them from getting stomped under careless feet, throwing the stampede a glare. Eventually, after a lot of shouting and jostling, the doorway cleared out, and he and the rest of the techies stood up to leave as well.

-

Lance pulled his muffin out of his backpack, wincing at how crushed and crumbled it had become throughout the day. He opened the Ziploc bag and pulled out the largest chunk still attached to the paper, tilting his head back and dangling it over his face with one hand. He scraped the bit into his mouth with the other hand, feeling loose crumbs cascade onto his cheeks and chin.

“Dude, gross,” Hunk said, watching Lance with slight repugnance. “Isn’t there any other way you could do that?”

“Probably,” Lance grinned around a mouthful of muffin, swiping his hand down his face. “But it’s funnier watching you be grossed out by me.”

They started back up at Act 2, Scene 1. The techies reassumed their positions by the door and some of the actors took to side stage. Keith was standing in the center, frozen in place, holding hands with one of the ugly stepsisters. Lance’s heart jumped to his throat.

A few more people from the ensemble were surrounding them, all paired off and holding hands in the same awkward way.

“Pretend there’s ballroom music playing,” Pidge said, waving their hand. “Begin.”

Keith and the stepsister turned towards each other and began to dance, a patterned step sequence that seemed too difficult and too easy at the same time. It was strange and jerky, and had nothing to do with the fact that there was no music to accompany them. Keith had a pained look on his face, boredom etched in every crease. His feet were dragging and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.

Suddenly, Nyma twirled gracefully into center stage, waving and smiling at the others. Keith spotted her, a look of awe passing over him, and he desperately attempted to unwind his hand from the stepsister’s.

“Excuse me, please,” he said, halting his half-hearted dancing and trying to reach Nyma while the stepsister continued. When she didn’t let go of his hand, he started pulling.

“I said, excuse me! Let go of me!” he ripped his hand out of the stepsister’s, speed walking to where Nyma was still waving hello. She froze at the sight of him. He held out his hand, bowing slightly and smiling. “May I have this dance?”

Nyma gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Why, certainly!” she said, letting him grab her and begin the same step sequence, only this time it was much more fluid and smooth. Keith looked like he was genuinely enjoying himself.

Lance felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knew it was just for show, but the expressions on their faces seemed far too real.

 _Maybe they’re dating_ , he thought dejectedly.

-

At long last, they had reached the final scene. They didn’t have a glass shoe prop yet, so they had to make do with Nyma’s ugg. Stepmother and the stepsisters were watching closely as she sat down on a chair that had been pulled to the center. She stuck her socked foot out wearily. Keith held her ugg in his hands, glancing down at it nervously before kneeling, and slipping it over her foot. His eyes widened as he made eye contact with her.

“It _is_ you!” he sputtered. Nyma smiled sheepishly.

“Hello, Prince Charming,” she squeaked. Keith grabbed both of her hands, pulling her up to stand. He then grabbed her shoulders, squeezing her in a quick hug before pushing her back again.

“I finally found you!” he announced, excitement and relief washed in his face. They hugged again.

“I’m think I’m gonna be sick!” one of the stepsisters chanted, sprinting towards side stage while the other burst into sobs.

Keith and Nyma payed no attention to them, still looking into each other’s eyes with affection, hands grasped in each other’s tightly.

“And… we’ll stop here for today.” Pidge called.

Keith and Nyma immediately let go of each other, all emotion drained from their faces.

“Nice work,” he sighed.

“You too,” she acknowledged.

“Good job guys! That was a pretty good run through. Actors, none of you can leave until we’ve finished notes, but techies are dismissed! If I find any food trash by the door after you’re gone I’ll have all your heads.” Pidge turned from their seat behind the piano, focusing their attention on the actors. “Keith, you’ll go first.”

Lance and Hunk ambled out of the room shoulder to shoulder, reaching the black box and grabbing their things.

“So… Keith?” Hunk inquired, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Shut!” Lance said frantically, head whipping around to make sure no one heard. He shrugged his backpack strap over his shoulders and glanced back at Hunk accusingly. “We are in a _public space_.”

Hunk chuckled, holding his hands up in mock defeat. “Alright man, but you’ve really got to explain in the car.”

-

Lance opened the driver’s side door of his silver Honda civic, clambering in and fastening his seatbelt while Hunk did the same on the other side. He turned to Lance, face questioning. “So…?”

“I don’t know, Hunk, he’s just hot, okay?” Lance admitted, throwing his hands up in the air and lowering them down to rest on the steering wheel.

“Have you ever talked to him before?” Hunk pointed out with a look of amusement.

“No, actually, I haven’t, Hunk, but have you ever heard of love at first sight? It’s a beautiful thing,” Lance retorted, sticking his key in the car’s ignition and reversing out of his parking space.

“Okay, Lance. Just let me know what you think when you’ve actually spoken to him for the first time,” Hunk chuckled.

“As a matter of fact, I will,” Lance replied, smug grin in place. “I’m going to get his number on Monday.”

**Author's Note:**

> aaaaa i finally put it up! this whole fic is basically me just self projecting on lance oops. feel free to leave me constructive criticism in the comments, i realize a few people may be a bit ooc :/  
> thanks for reading! <3  
> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/redpaladiin)  
> [my tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/redpaladiiin)


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